Gratuity/Tips for guided hunting

[FireFlyFishing]

Just a question to the Guides and Outfitters out there.
If someone books a four day hunt for say a Mule Deer and pays $10,000.00. Does not the Outfitter pay the Guide out of the $10k. Room/food/license out of the 10K and I understand that it is a business, but the Guide gets almost nothing from the Outfitter and depends on Tips? Suggesting that the guide should get additional $2K for the hunt? Plus the rest of the staff at the lodge get tips also?
We have gone on hunts where tipped individuals and also gone with other hunters and pooled the tips together for everyone.

$10k for a mule deer hunt...I just threw up in my mouth...

 

[asd9055]

I think @Small Lady made some great points. There are a lot of people, from mechanics to farmers to doctors, who put a lot of work just to be ready to offer what we get, yet there is now "tip" line in those bills.
I had great guides in Colorado, Africa and Texas. I also had a guide I would never use again. I'd rather pay an all inclusive fee. But when I shopped for hunting, I always calculated that in the cost. Then some hunts became prohibitively expensive

 

[340Wby-4-everything]

A good friend and well known guide in CO has on his website - recommended tip 10% of total cost of the trip for the guide and 5% shared for wrangler (if appropriate) and cook. Pretty simple and very reasonable. I hired him this yr for a Moose hunt and followed his rule. Cook and wrangler were the same person, so he got the full 5%. Tagged out 2nd day of a 6 day hunt - even more reasonable when you get a trophy, but these guys worked their tails off as most do and took good care of me.

 

[mudygmc]

I have been on 3 guided hunts in my life. Texas audad, Canada black bear and Africa. To me I tip based on the service given and effort put in. No question about it the service I was given in Africa was 10x better than service I received in Texas and Canada. Our dollar has more value there in Africa so I tipped them decent and was not happy with my experiences here so I didn't tip any better. I think that is part of our society and how they value things. Guided hunts are usually a big deal for the hunter and I don't thi k most guides really see it that way. I saved my side job money and did other saving tips to afford a guided hunt. It was alot of sacrifice for me to afford that. And both my hunts in north America I was not satisfied with meals accommodations or effort put in. Did t seem like guides enjoyed their jobs or wanted to try hard for a quality animal. Value your commitment and theirs to base tips. If they go the extra mile and try hard for a quality animal. I would take care of them. If an egg and a piece of bread is breakfast before you drive around all day. I don't feel they need to be taken care of. I have worked hard for every dollar I have made and they can too.

Adam

 

[340Wby-4-everything]

My point was that if someone is going to tip, then tip for the really huge things in life, not the small stuff.
A Doctor saving your life is huge, and should be worth acknowledgement. Most other things are all small stuff.
I used to work with an amazing Doctor, in my opinion he is a miracle worker. Cannot count how many times patients left without so much as thanking him. On one particular day he had already done about 15 hours in Emerg/OR, and was about to go home, so had I done a 15 hour shift, and was going to walk out to the parking lot with him. We hear them call a code, and announce inbound ambulance, eta 8 minutes, seriously injured woman in her 40s. He looked at me and said, "well lets go change and scrub". We turned around and headed towards the OR, and I asked him how he possibly had the energy left to do surgery. He said that despite being exhausted, nobody was dying today if he could possibly stop it. We operated on her until 02:45 then cleaned up, and walked out together, having been there since 06:30 the day before. That woman lived, and I was talking to her several days later, and she thanked me. I said ' You're welcome, but the Doctor who performed your surgery, after an already grueling day, is the hero you should be thanking'. She asked me how to thank him, I said get one of your visitors to bring up a nice Thank You card, and write something wonderful inside of it, and I'll be sure that he gets it. The woman does so, and I gave him the card. This amazing man burst into tears, and said that was the most beautiful thing, and how nice it felt to be thanked. I truly believe that the most underappreciated people around are Doctors, and mechanics. They fix problems, and rarely get thanked, or tipped, much less people really appreciating them.
Want to tip people, tip your mechanic who just did a lot of work on your car, truck, plane, boat, quad, tractor, piece of heavy equipment, motorbike, or whatever they fixed, and don't forget that Doctor who performed a miracle on you, your spouse, child, best friend, or whomever.
That woman in my opinion stood a 5% chance of making it when brought into the OR that night. But 3 weeks later she left the hospital, and went home to her husband and children. He does miracles regularly, rarely gets thanked, never tipped. How much is your life worth?

Gotta tip for this - meets the huge things in Life requirement

 

[Creedmoorcarl]

I've reviewed some of the discussions regarding Gratuity/Tips for guided hunting trips on this forum. Most seem over a year old and are varied in conclusions. Just returned from a 4-day hunt in Wyoming for elk and questioned if I was tipping properly. Should it be based on the cost of the hunt? Is there a usual/expected amount per day regardless of price? If you tag-out early, should it be less (or perhaps more!)? What if there are multiple guides for the group (i.e one-on-one versus one guide for 2 or three hunters) - does each hunter tip (perhaps a smaller $) or does the group pool the total? How much to you tip the cook/wrangler (certainly, not as much as the guide)? Can this tip be pooled amount from all? If determined by % of the total cost of the hunt, is that % amount distributed to all the crew or to each of your guides? If that's the case, the cook might do best? Like others, I also detest this very American habit which is spiraling out of control. I'd be happy just to pay the outfitter more and have him pay his crew better.

Personally, I think it's got out of hand we're already paying a small fortune for Outfitters fees , then another part of a small fortune, to get license and tags, then another small fortune for traveling expenses.
And each year it seems to be going up,
I say the outfitter should pay his people and if we feel like the guide deserves it then yes, go ahead and give him 3-400 but giving him an outfitter 18 to 20% of the cost of the hunt total is just too much

 

[Raudy707]

I still go help guide a few weeks each season and the outfitter pays $150/day. The tip should he handed to the guide you worked with. If he busted his *** to get your cow elk out of a difficult spot you should tip him. If he gets you a good animal, you should tip him. Definitely tip the cooks! Don't tip the outfitter and expect him to delve it out to each person. Typically, $100 to $150 per day is a real nice gesture. We are the first ones up and last ones to bed. For the 15-16 hour days we are basically getting $10/hour. We really appreciate the tips no matter what it is. We don't expect it I promise you that, especially these days, so if someone tips $150 to $500 bucks it makes us really happy you respected our work and craft. Most guys in the trade have other jobs because guiding doesn't pay shwizz. We do it because we love it. We love seeing the smile on a kids face or an older hunter's last big game animal. It can be a very rewarding job.

 

[Bang4theBuck]

Was in Africa this past spring, my PH and my friends PH started out on day 1 mentioning tips and their expectations.

Tapered off after a few days, but **** near told them the next time I heard a word about a tip it would start going down.

Not opposed to tipping, but its really getting out of hand and should not be expected, but earned.

Got a coffee this morning and the first box to pop up was a recommended 22% tip, next 25%, and 30%.

I've seen the same thing. And maybe I'm just a little paranoid, but when it comes to tip or no tip, on food/drinks that are preordered, I am motivated more to tip based on their ability to wreck my food/drink. I had one recent experience with carry-out pizza. I opted for no tip as they let my app ordered pizza order sit, and it wasn't ready anywhere near when it was supposed to be, and I was already committed to the tip. Next time, I opted to pay at the store, and when they messed it up again, I opted out of the tip. When I got home and opened the box, the pizza slices were were all whacked out of shape and no where near even. Also they left the little prop stand out and all the cheese and toppings were stuck to the top of the box..... next dilemma.....do you call and complain,, knowing that there is a history kept on your orders? Not relly looking for answers, but if we say we are moving to a service-based economy, we need to deliver on the operative word, or plan on that too failing.

 

[zacii]

Why don't we just put the cost of business in the price and get away from tip culture?

Seems like an antiquated tradition that has gotten out of hand. It used to be you tipped when you got above average service; now everyone demands it.

 

[DiscoDan04]

I've reviewed some of the discussions regarding Gratuity/Tips for guided hunting trips on this forum. Most seem over a year old and are varied in conclusions. Just returned from a 4-day hunt in Wyoming for elk and questioned if I was tipping properly. Should it be based on the cost of the hunt? Is there a usual/expected amount per day regardless of price? If you tag-out early, should it be less (or perhaps more!)? What if there are multiple guides for the group (i.e one-on-one versus one guide for 2 or three hunters) - does each hunter tip (perhaps a smaller $) or does the group pool the total? How much to you tip the cook/wrangler (certainly, not as much as the guide)? Can this tip be pooled amount from all? If determined by % of the total cost of the hunt, is that % amount distributed to all the crew or to each of your guides? If that's the case, the cook might do best? Like others, I also detest this very American habit which is spiraling out of control. I'd be happy just to pay the outfitter more and have him pay his crew better.

I'm getting tired of tipping, it's everywhere. I think it's best for the outfitter to include it in fees. I went to the hardware store, and saw a tip jar.
Enough.

 

[asd9055]

I still go help guide a few weeks each season and the outfitter pays $150/day. The tip should he handed to the guide you worked with. He he busted his *** to get your cow elk out of a difficult spot you should tip him. If he gets you a good animal, you should tip him. Definitely tip the cooks! Don't tip the outfitter and expect him to delve it out to each person. Typically, $100 to $150 per day is a real nice gesture. We are the first ones up and last ones to bed. For the 15-16 hour days we are basically getting $10/hour. We really appreciate the tips no matter what it is. We don't expect it I promise you that, especially these days, so if someone tips $150 to $500 bucks it makes us really happy you respected our work and craft. Most guys in the trade have other jobs because guiding doesn't pay shwizz. We do it because we love it. We love seeing the smile on a kids face or an old hunter's last big game animals. It can be a very rewarding job.

Funny you said that. In S Africa, the outfitter was my guide for 5 days, and Huss a different guide for 5 days. Tipped them separately. Outfitter was not happy.

 

[Culpeper]

Keep in mind it is part time seasonal work. New Mexico is the worst. The state is doing their best to track them down for gross receipts tax. And I know that for a fact because I refused to have any part of that. On top of that is the state and fed income tax. They have expenses. Their income statements, if they go that far, look like crap. I'm also a member of CAP and we have never had a SAR mission for a lost or injured hunter, fisher, hiker, that had a guide. It's hard work that they have a passion for so tip them. With cash. If they are wise they know not to deposit it.

 

[H82MISS]

Was in Africa this past spring, my PH and my friends PH started out on day 1 mentioning tips and their expectations.

Tapered off after a few days, but **** near told them the next time I heard a word about a tip it would start going down.

Not opposed to tipping, but its really getting out of hand and should not be expected, but earned.

Got a coffee this morning and the first box to pop up was a recommended 22% tip, next 25%, and 30%.

Same thing has happened to me- not in Africa- but here in USA. Also had it happen on a guided waterfowl hunt in Canada. I agree- not opposed to tipping- but definately has to be earned. Hunted Wyoming a few times- and a couple guides would start talking about the great tipping from last few clients they had that season. This was a day or two into our hunt.

 

[RH300UM]

Being an Alaskan hunting guide I can tell you that I am always thankful for a tip from hunters.
Usually when I am asked about tips from hunters I say if you're happy with the service and treatment from your guide then 10% of the hunt cost is a good tip.
I have gotten that and also gotten no tip at all. It's part of the game.
There's a lot of interesting interactions that take place with people on hunts. Most good. Some bad.
For me it's 16 hour days mostly. Plus cooking. And packing the animals back to camp on my back.
I average 16$ hour on my hunts.
I don't get traveling money. I don't get money for hotels, food and taxis while I'm in civilization. Then there is the gear that has to be bought. Most years gear costs depends on factors that are not easily factored.
While all guides are in different situations if he/she gives you a good experience then a tip would be appreciated.
All the guides I know do it because they love it. Not for the money. But the money (tip) sure helps!!